[About secondary phenothiazine-induced cardiomyopathy].

A total of 830 autopsy protocols and medical histories of schizophrenic patients who died between 1952 and 2007 were analysed. Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCMP) occurred much more frequently than in the study of analogous material from the general population and patients with psychiatric disorders. The difference is attributed to the prolonged neuroleptic therapy with phenothiasine preparations in schizophrenics. This inference is confirmed by their significantly smaller heart mass compared with that in the period preceding this treatment. The frequency of DCMP in these patients significantly increased with duration of neuroleptic therapy. It is concluded that phenothiasine neuroleptics are etiological factors of DCMP. It is suggested to regard DCMP as an independent nosological form and call it phenothiasine-induced cardiomyopathy (FCMP).